Sod cutter



A. F. HABWENICHT SOD CUTTER 2 SHEET S-SHEET l Filed Dec. 27, 1948 Oct.21, 1952 A, F, HABEN;HT 2,614,477

SOD CUTTER Filed DeC. 27, 1948 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 Patented Get. 21, 1952UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE f 2,614,477 son CUTTE Augustlt.HabenichtQTinIeg Park, 111.

Application December 27, 1948, Serial No. 67,354

col ims. (o1. Fl -226) This invention relates: to sod cuttersi' inparticulargit concerns an automatic machine which; whenuscdrinconiunction with a tractor, will airtomatically cut sod: into pieces ofpredetermined length.- and width without tearing-v or otherwisedamagingieitherthe cut pieces or the uncut sod remaining on the-lawn.

,fllhe cultivaition and. sale of sod has in recent years becoinea veryimportant'industry. Conntry lubs, public institutions; and private homeowners have, to-an increasing extent, purchased sod: for coming lawnsand golf greensv rather than attempting to grow grass from seed on thearea to be made into lawn.

' i Il-his development has taken place; for twoprincan reasons'efirst,in many cases it is; necessary taprovide a-finished lawirin a very shorttime.

anigrowtlrof a. lawn from grass seedal'ways requires months. ofpatlent'effort-and care; and,

second, inmany' situations it; is possible to main- Past efilorts toproduce automatic machines for thatpurpnsehave: beenunsuccessiul for thereason that prior wart machineswould not. cut the sod transverselywithout tearing it or marring a considerable portion of sod with eachtransverse cut.

The customary practice in cutting-sod has been thercfore, to use amachine for: cuttin a continuouss-trip of sod and to have a man followup the machine with ameasuring stick and a hand cutter to make thetransverse cuts.

1 have invented a simple and. effective machine which canbe readilyattached m a. tractor and with, which one man can periomn the completesod-cutting operation. With my invention, one

man can drive a tractor back andiorthracross a lawn, and the machinewill automaticallyrcut the sodinto. neat,cleanly-cut:rectangula-pieceshavthedesired length, width, and thickness;

. It is; accordingly a maior object army invention to provide anautomatic machine; which,

when. attached toa.v tractor. will. permitfa comliletescdwuttingoperation by one Another object of my invention is tov provide anautomatic machine: which, while itisbeingmoved forward in: thesod-butting operation, will out cleanly into lengths the continuousstrip of sod being cut from the lawn.

A further object of my invention isto provide a simple automatic machinewhich, at the operators will, can Ic -made tocut sod in a continuousstrip or mto'shortlengths. 7

Still another object. of my invention'is to produce. in a sodrcuttingmachine. a. knife mecha nism for making transverse cuts without tearingordamagingthe sod. v

Other objects and advantageszo'i my invention will become apparent asthe specification proceeds. v v Lhave illustrated my inventiom in twoiorms.

inthe accompanying drawings. Figurel. isaview Fig- 4 is. a sectionaldetail view of a portion of the transverse cutting structure: in theFig. l-zform of my invention, taken along the line A-JofFig. 1. Fig. 5is a sectional view in side elevation'of my invention,.-the sectionbeing taken along the line 5--5- in Fig. 2.v Fig. 6 is a-sectional viewof the hydraulic-control valve which may beemployed for raising my sodcutter into stand-by position or for lowering it into sod-cuttingposition. Fig. 7 is a view in side elevation showing-a modification oithe Fig. 1 form of. theinvention wherein the apparatus for makingtransverse cute is operated by power. derived from the tractor axle.

As shown inv thedrawings, my invention is intended for use with a.tractor which, in Fig. I, is designated generally by the numeral. 3:0.My invention is carried on. a rectangular fram .10, which may be made ofwood or other suitable material. The rear portion, of frame t0. carriesa coupling member N which may be affixed by 1 1 means of a bolt l 2- toasuitable: cooperating member 31 on the rear. axle'structure ofthetractor.

The forward. ends or the-of frame [-0. are rigidly aflixed respectivelyto a pair of vertical frame members l'5',j.-and vertical members l5 arerigidly aflixed to and supported by a transverse frame memberl6. Membersfiand f6 may vbe made; of wood or other material as desired. A

pair of' forwardly eartending arms: t! are securely afiixedrespectivelyjtoiiithe ends: of transverse" frame member I6; 'I preferthat arms H be passes over the blade.

- at the desired depth;

It: will be understood that formed of metal rods, although any othersuitable material may be employed. Near the forward end of each of thearms I! is an enlarged portion containing a bearing which slidablyreceives a swivel sleeve 18. Set screws [9 threaded into apertures inthe ends of arms I! permit sleeves 18 to be locked in position. Swiveledto each of the members 18 is a coulter 20. Coulters 29 may be formed inthe usual mannerynormally they will consist of relatively thin steelwheels, the rims of which have been ground to a knife edge.

Aflixed to the lower ends of vertical frame members I is a cutting knife2|, the function of which is to advance at a desiredcdistance, which maybe one inch, below the ground level and thus cut away a strip of sod thesides of which have been defined by the vertical cuts made by coulters20. The knife 2| has its leading edge ground to a high degree ofsharpness, and "its horizontallydisposed blade is quite thin, so as todisturb the sod as slightly as possible as it At its ends knife 2| hasupwardly-turned extensions, formed of metal slightly thinnerthan theblades of coulters 20. These extensions, denoted 2| a on the drawings,are bolted to the lower ends of frame members l5.

A roller 22 is providedto press downward on the sod in advance of thecutting edge of knife 2|: to insure that a cleancut will be effectedthereby;'rol1er -22 shouldpreferably be formed of some relatively heavymaterial. It is provided with an axle 2211 which is journaled into apair of supporting armsf23, pivoted to the sides of frame 10, as bestshown in Figs. 1 and 5. A pair of set screws 23a are threaded intobearings provided in frame member !6 nearits outer ends.

' They press downward on member 23 and their position controls" thedepth of the out made by j horizontal knife 2 l.

A pair-ofbrackets 23o mounted respectively on the forward portions ofarms 23 carry a scraper 23b which is positioned to bear on the surfaceof roller 22 as it turns'for the purpose of keeping itfree of sedimentsince sediment on the roller 22 would cause intermittent variations inthe depth of knife 2l.-

The forwardend of the sod-cutting machine is supported by apiston rod24, the lower end of which is pivotally'secured to a coupling mem-- ber-25 aflixed to the upper surface oftransverse frame member l5. 1 a IPiston rod 24 is-coupled at its upper end to the piston within ahydraulic power cylinder 28. Power cylinder 26 is bolted to the frame oftractor "cylinder 26 the sod-cutting machine is lifted clear of theground. When the piston is at the lower end of its stroke the frame islowered and screws 23a press firmly against arms 23. As a resultthe'ro'ller 22 is'forced firmly against the sod by the hydraulicpressure and knife 2| is positioned depth of the cut-away'may be made byadjusting screws 23a,-corresponding adjustments being also ,made inthe'setting of coulter swivels I3 by 'use of set screws 13.

draulic piston pressing the roller 22 against the surface of the earth.

variations in the" standard equipment.

A hydraulic fluid line 21 runs from the upper end of power cylinder 26to a port on the side of control valve 32; another hydraulic fluid line28 runs from the lower end of power cylinder 25 to another port on valve32.

An oil tank 33 and an oil pump 34 are shown as carried by tractor 30.These elements are normally found on tractors as a part of their Ahydraulic 1ine,29 runs from the tank 33 to the inlet of pump 34, and ahydraulic line 35 runs from the outlet of pump 34 to a port in themiddle of control valve 32. A pair of ports near the ends of controlvalve 32 are joined together and connected to the oil tank 33 by ahydraulic line 36 and its branch 36a.

The operation of control valve 32 may be best understood by reference toFig. 6. As is shown in that figure, the valve 32 contains a two-sectionpiston 320. which is connected to and may be manually adjusted by a handlever 3219. When valve 32 is in the position shown inFig. '6, highpressure fluid from line 35 is fed'to line 21 and thence to the upperend of. power cylinder 26. Thiscauses the piston in the power cylinderto be forced downward, so that the sod cutter is placed in the operatingposition shown in Fig. 1. If the manual lever 321) be pulled outwarduntil collar 32c engages the end wall of cylinder 32, the line, 2Twouldbe vented to the oil tank through line 38, and the high pressure fluidfrom line 35 would be directed to the lower end of power cylinder 23through line 28. This would result in the raising of the sod cutter toits stand-by position.

- The apparatus which, in my invention, accomplishes the cutting of thesod strip into pieces of predetermined length as the machine advanceswith 'backwardly-extending arms 4| a which are bolted respectively intoslotted members 51 carried by frame members Iii. The slots in members 51are. arcuate in shape, and, by adjustment of the position in which arms41a are bolted into the slots in members 51, a slight shift in thevertical plane in the relative position of shaft 42-.andframe members l0may be achieved. Shaft 42 is extended at one end slightly beyond bearing4! and it is there connected to a flexible coupling member 43 whichcouples shaft 42 to the axle of a pilot wheel 44; The axle of pilotwheel 44 is igidly afiixed to the wheel itself and is .journaled into abearing 45 carried on a bracket arm 48 which extends outwardly andforwardly from frame member 10, as best shown in Figs. 2 and 3.. Bracketarm 46 is pivotally mounted on frame member H! by a bolt 41.

Pilot wheel 44 is provided with a relatively broad rim which may, ifdesired, have a rubber the or other convenient means to give it"substantial purchase on the ground and at the same time'not cause it toout into the ground so as to damage the turf.

Rigidly afiixed' to shaft 42inside frame member 10 on the side adjacent"pilot wheel 44 is a gear housing 48, the internal constructionof whichis most clearlyshown in' Fig. 4.

Rigidly afilxed to shaft 42 near the end opposite the pilot 'wheel 44 isa-depending arm'49,"the

position of which'o'rr shaft 42 is=angularly equivalent to thatof-"gearhousing 48. A transverse shaft 5| is journaled into a bearing at thelower end of depending arm 49 and into a corresponding bearing in theinner-side wall of gear housing 48. The shaft 5| carries, rigidlyinserted into-a longitudinal slot, a knife blade 52.

.The inner end of the bearing 4! nearest pilot wheel 44 is modified toform a sprocket 53, receive within gear housing 48. A second. sprocketgear 50 is rigidly affixed to the end of shaft 5| and carried alsowithin gear housing 48 in the same vertical plane-as sprocket 53. Achain 54 couples sprockets 50 and 53. An idler sprocket 55, provided tomaintain tension on chain 54, is carried on an arm 56 pivotally mountedto the side of housing 48. A spring 61 is'provided within housing 48 tourge idler sprocket 55 against the chain 54. 5

At the time of original assembly of theapparatus, sprocket 50 ispositioned relative to chain 54 so that knife blade 52 occupies avertical position, as shown in Fig. 4. Thesprocket "and chain enclosedwithin gear housing 48' there- "after operate to maintain the positionof blade 4M within the slotted members 51, heretofore described. Thisrotates slightly the bearings 41 and the sprocket 53 relative totheshaft42 and gear housing 48, thus permitting'the position of knife blade 52to be made either vertical or slightly in advance of or behind thevertical position, as maybe best'suited for clean cutting of the sodbeing worked with.

Operation of Figure 1 embodiment In the operation of the form of myinvention I shown in Fig. 1, the tractor is driven, with the sod cutterraised to its stand-by position, to the point at which cutting is tocommence. Thereupon the operator pushes inhand control 32b in valve 32and" thereby causes the power cylinder 26 to lower the sod-cuttingmachine to opbeing in frictional contact with the ground, and

shaft 42 is accordingly caused to turn. With the rotation of shaft 42-the transverse cutting knife 52 moves through a circular path, its edgebeing heldat all times in the same angular position relative to theground. I have learned by experiment that on most sod best results areobtained by having the transverse cutting knife 52 positioned slightlyin advance of the vertical positionthat is, in such position that theblade engages the ground slightly before it would do .so

if in a vertical position. I

When the transverse cutting knife 52 drops into engagement with the sodstrip, it penetrates it and cuts it cleanly, rising upward and away fromthe sod as the tractor moves forward. At no time does the transverseknife 52 tear 'or damage the sod strip, since, during the time that itis in engagementwith the sod it is moving backward relative to thetractor, so' that its movement'relative tothe sod itself ispractlcallyzero.

The result of the sod-cutting operation. accomplished by my inventionisa series of neatly and cleanly-cut rectangular pieces of sodpthelength of each piece being determined by the distance traversed by thetractor during the time required by knife 52 to completeha; revolutionaround shaft 42. Variation, within. relatively wide limits, of thelength of the pieces: to be out can. be accomplished by variation intheisize of pilot wheel 44. Normally sod is sold inzstandard lengths,and a single pilot wheel designed for such standard lengths will usuallybe used. Pilot wheels ofdiiferent'sizes, to meet other: length re.-quirements, may be held in reserve and usedon the machine whennecessary. Th pivotal mounting of bracket arm 45 on frame member [landthe use of flexible coupling member 43 permits a considerable variationin the size of. the pilot- Wheel.

A. great advantage of my invention over previous sodcutting devices,quite apart from its ability to cut the sod automatically into shortlengths, is the fact that the operation of the cutting'knife is atalltimes under the eye of the operator. Accordingly, if anything shouldbe encountered, such as a rock or cinder, which fouls any of the cuttingblades, the operator sees" it at once and can immediately stop thetractor. This permits him to remove the cause of, the fouling Withoutdamaging any appreciable quantity of sod. In prion-art machines carriedbehind a tractor, considerable sod normally would be damaged by a fouledblade beforeit would be observed by the operator of the tractor.

The Figure 7 embodiment In Fig.7 I have shown a variation of inventionin which the'transverse cutter is operated by power taken from thetractor axle rather'than by the pilot wheel used in the Fig. 1embodiment. Since the Fig. 7' embodiment is identical'irr all otherrespects to the Fig. 1 embodiment; much of the detail shown in the otherfigures has been omitted in '7, and reference numerals have beenemployed which correspond to thoseused in the Fig. 1 embodiment,sofar-as'appiicablee In this form of my invention, pilotwheel'44.supporting arm- 46, and coupling 43 have been dispensed with. A Sprocketgear 'H- ismoon-ted on the end of shaft 42, and it is coupledby' asprocket chain 12 to a sprocket wheel-"13 mounted on the axle of thetractor. I

The operation of this form of my i nventioniis identical in all respectsto that of the Fig. l embodiment' except that, since the" transversecutter operated directly by the power of the tractor, there is nopossibility of any slippage sacs-as might be encountered with the pilotwheel 4'4 while operating on wet turf or under other adverse conditions.In this form of the invention variation in the length of the pieces outby the transverse cutter can be achieved by variation in the relativesizes of the sprocket wheels 73 and H. Variation in the size of sprocket13 would normally be inconvenient, and accordingly a change in thelength of the pieces cut would normally be accomplished byreplacingsprocket H with a sprocket of different size and adjusting the length ofchain 12 accordingly.

.It will be understood that any other suitable 'me'thod of rotatingshaft 42 may be employed. -While I have in this specification describedtwo embodiments of my invention for purposes of illustration, it will beunderstood that considerable variation in matters of detail may be madeby persons skilled in the art without departing from. the spirit of myinvention.

' I claim:

- I l. A sod cutter adaptedfor mounting under a tractor, comprising incombination a frame, a pairof coulters mounted thereon, a horizontalcutting-knife carried by the frame behind the coulters operative to cutthe sod at a predetermined thickness, a first shaft mounted transverselyon the frame, a pair of projecting arms rigidly affixed thereto, eachhaving a bearing at its open end, a second shaft journaled in saidzbearings, a transversely-disposed cutting knife carried by the secondshaft, means coupling the first shaft and the second shaft operative tomaintain the knife on the second shaft at a substantially constant anglerelative to the earth during rotation of the first shaft, and meanscoupling the first shaft to the tractor operative to rotate the firstshaft as the sod cutter is advanced.

2. A sod cutter adapted for mounting under a tractor, comprising incombination a frame, re-

tractable means connecting said frame to said tractor, a pair ofcoulters mounted thereon, a

horizontal cutting knife carried by the frame behind the coultersoperative to cut the sod at a predetermined thickness, a first shaftmounted transversely on the frame, a pair of projecting iarms rigidlyaffixed thereto, each having a bearing at its-open end, a second shaftjournaled in said. bearings, a transversely-disposed cutting rotate thefirst shaft as the sod cutter is advanced.

3. Asod cutter adapted for mounting under a tractor, comprising incombination a frame, retractable means connecting said frame to saidtractor, a pair of coulters mounted thereon, a horizontal cutting knifecarried by the frame behind the coulters operative to cut the sod at apredetermined thickness, a first shaft mounted transversely on theframe, a pair of projecting armsrigidly affixed thereto, each having abearing at its open end, a second shaft journaled in said bearings, atransversely-disposed cutting knife carried by the second shaft, meanscou- ,pling the first shaft and the second shaft operative to maintainthe knife on the second shaft .at a substantially constant anglerelative to the earthfduring rotation of the first shaft, and

'means for rotating the first shaft as the sod cutteris advanced.

hydraulic power cylinder adapted for mounting on the tractor and havinga piston rod, means coupling the piston rod to said frame, a pair ofcoulters mounted thereon, a horizontal cutting knife carried by theframe behind the coulters operative to cut the sod at a predeterminedthickness, a first shaft mounted transversely on the frame, a pair ofprojecting arms rigidly affixed thereto, each having a hearing at itsopen end, a second shaft journaled in said bearings, atransversely-disposed cutting knife carried by the second shaft, meanscoupling the first shaft and. the second shaft operative to maintain theknife on the second shaft at a substantially constant angle relative tothe earth during rotation of the first shaft, and means for rotating thefirst shaft as the sod cutter is advanced.

5. In a sod cutter having a frame, a knife apparatus for cutting the sodinto sections of predetermined length comprising a rotary member, aknife rotatable about the rotary member near the periphery thereof,means for rotating the rotary member as the sod cutter advances, andmechanical linkage relating the rotary member and the rotatable knifeoperative to maintain the knife ina constant angular position relativeto the earth While revolving through a circular arc with rotation of therotary member, whereby said knife can penetrate the sod and be removedtherefrom during advance of the sod cutter with substantially zerorelative movement of said knife and the earth in the horizontal planeduring any single sod-cutting operationby said knife.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5 wherein said mechanical linkagecomprises a sprocket keyed in fixed angular relation relative to saidknife, 2. second sprocket keyed in fixed angular relation to said rotarymember, and a sprocket chain linking the two sprockets.

AUGUST F. HABENICHT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 39,048 Hoisingt-on June 30, 186341,371 Foley Jan. 26, 1864 45,926 Kirk Jan. 17, 1865 471,231 'BentleyMar. 22, 1-892 743,277 Harlan Nov. 3, 1903 764,058 Lane July 5, 1904776,844 I-Iuddlemeyer et al. Dec. 6, 1904 1,706,831 Watson Mar. 26, 19291,732,972 Knipfing Oct. 22, 1929 1,942,708 Junor et al. Jan. 9, 19342,164,246 Kirkpatrick June 27, 1939 2,190,347 Austin Feb. 13, 19402,250,073 Weimer July 22, 1941 2,330,283 Hippie Sept. 28, 1943

